I frantically pull my phone from my back pocket. My hands shake more than they ever have from pregame nerves.
Where are you?
I push send while keeping my head on a swivel. But everyone who finds me is no one I’m looking for.
Captain America!
Rhodes of the Rebels!
Fitzy!
For fuck’s sake.
With a bit of the shakes, I bring the short glass to my lips, downing half of it in one gulp.
555-459-3137
Can I steal you for a minute?
This isn’t funny. Who is this?
555-459-3137
Live a little, Fitzy.
Go out the exit by the bathrooms and hang right, I’ll meet you.
“What are you doing?” Josh slings a heavy arm around me. “Why are you drinkingalone?”
I leave my glass half empty. “I’m out.”
Josh lifts his wrist, as if he expects to find a watch when he never wears one. “It’s only like?—”
“Two in the damn morning.” I pull out my wallet and stick a fifty-dollar bill beneath the glass. “See you in the AM.”
“I thought you said it was the morning.”
“Laterin the morning, you idiot.”
I wind my way through the crowd in search of the bathrooms. I still have the note clutched in my hand, and under the strobing light, I try to take a better look at the handwriting. Maybe I’m drunk out of my mind. I must be. This could be some sick joke, even though Parker isn’t someone I share about. But then I remember Nick and the fact that, when I was indeed drunk out of my mind years ago, I did tell him everything.Andshow him the tattoo.
If he’s behind this, I’m going to kick his ass.
I duck into the men’s room, pushing open a stall and pulling my pants partly down. The fact that I’m trying to compare the writing on a cocktail napkin against a copy of Parker’s handwriting from when we were in high school is indeed absolutely ridiculous. But I swear, theRs look the same. TheLs could go either way.
“Fuck,” I mumble before pushing open the stall and heading back into the hallway. I head away from the music, seeing the door with the Exit sign.
And a security guard standing next to it.
“You good, champ? Front door is that way. Just an alley back here.”
I’m fucking sweating. “Can I just go get some air?”
“You need some help, man?”
“No, it’s…”
I’m about to sayIt’s nothing, never mind, but instead, I decide I’ll just turn around and stop making a complete ass of myself and pretend this never happened. But the moment I give the guy my back, I’ve redirected my heart forward in the direction it’s always pointed.